Miles between us

To me a good friend consists of  good conversation, being able to be yourself  and enjoying one another as who they are.  I have friends who I talk to on a daily basis or even an hourly basis. I have friends who I email consistently and friends who our relationship seems to be completely over a text message. As you can tell my friends mean a lot to me. They always have since I was a little girl. There was a time probably until I was almost 10 years old where I did not have a friend in the world.  I remember being in the 3rd grade and we had just switched schools. It was a small school, probably about 10 kids in my entire grade. At recess the girls would all split up into twos and that is who they would play with. I remember this vividly because the girls openly refused to play with me. Everyone of them. It was very sad but I still think I turned out okay right??? :) Maybe this is why I love and cherish my girlfriends and want to keep strong, family like relationships with them. As I am whenever anyone from my family or friends from home come to visit me I feel honored.  Its not a quick trip or an inexpensive one for that matter. The year Jackson was born I was overwhelmed with the support of my friends who came to visit me. My sister Lisa came when Jack was just two weeks old, then Brittany and her dad who is like my dad came, then Amanda came and lastly Kim and Stella.....It was very humbling to know that these friends cared about me enough to save money and take their time to come here.

Barbara has always made it a priority to come here almost yearly and has since I moved over 6 years ago. I have known Barb since middle school but we really got close once I moved out to WA and we lived minutes from one another. We practically lived together for two years, and in those two years I grew up and found the love of my life. Last year and again this year we had the pleasure of spending time with her son Leyton who is the sweetest little boy and one of the brightest I know. Leyton and Jackson were born only days apart and when they are here its like family. I don't feel the need to entertain or keep my house spotless. We lounge in our PJ's till noon, eat cupcakes every other meal and talk almost nonstop.  Those of you who have the pleasure to know Barb, know this is very easy to do!

We spent most of our time laughing at the boys as they are as wild as ever. It gave me a glimpse of what having two sons will be like. I also realized that if we decided or "accidentally" were blessed with child number 3, we would have to get a bigger vehicle. The Hyundai just does not fit 3 car seats!! Thank you Carol for lending us the expedition!!

We had a jam-packed week of play dates, pumpkin patch picking, fall festivals, and well dying my gray hair back to my un-natural color of blackish brownish. Leyton cracks me up with his "Okay Mommy" every time she says something to him. For example...Barb would say "Leyton eat your corn dog. " Leyton's response  "Okay Mommy" as he goes over and takes a bite of his corn dog. Barb "Leyton can Jackson play with that?" Leyton "Okay Mommy" as he hands over the toy. You get the point... I asked Barb if she could super nanny my kids in being so polite and being good listeners.  Yesterday Kevin and I were talking about how nice it was for Barb to visit us and I said "Okay Mommy" and Jackson got up off of his chair and started playing a game of "banging your head on the door" like him and Leyton did. It was funny to see him make that connection without us telling him.

Barb and I also had an afternoon or should I say just a few hours to ourselves while Kevin watched all three of the boys. Bless him as my friend B says. I was a little nervous for him but as always he kept them entertained by playing "the banging your head on the door game". They thought he was hilarious as I guess I do too. But during our afternoon out we went wedding dress shopping!!! Barbara is getting married and I'm thrilled to be a part of it. Watching her try on dresses and being able to talk about what is important to her and plan her day made me very happy. She was glowing and rightfully so. She has been waiting for this moment since she met her fiance.  I couldn't help but want to try on a few dresses myself. Like perhaps Kim Kardashian's dress. :) However, seeing Barbara so happy was something that is burned into my memory and I'm thrilled to have shared that with her. She is so in love and has been for years. She would tear up when talking about him and how much he meant to her. So sweet and I could not ask for a better man to be with her.

Tuesday morning came and it felt like they had just arrived when I had to take them back to the airport. I'm not so secretly hoping that Leyton's behavior has rubbed off on Jack while they are here but all signs point to he is no follower.

I love this picture so much I can't stand it.

 Craziness at the playgroup!!

 HA! Brecken looks as big as Leyton in this picture!

He loved the slide...but did not love waiting in line for it.

Let's not forget about Ziki!

 Arent they the cutest! I want to squeeze Leyton's face off here.

 I love this picture. You are adorable Jackson O'Hare!

I love this picture so much!!

 Yes my child has a pop...but it almost looks like PBR.

 Driving the Tractor. Jack is steering and Leyton is doing the petals!

I love this picture.

 My beautiful boy!!

It was a complete wrestle fest when Kevin was home.

New News!!

BRECKEN
Brecken is now rolling from his back to his belly in seconds flat. He almost refuses to stay on his back. He is getting up real high on his arms and spins himself around the room. He is getting around without crawling yet.  He is also trying to sit up from a lying down position. Its almost frightening. He absolutely loves the johnny jumper. He could stay in it for hours if I would let him. He no longer appreciates his swing or lounge bouncy seat. He is beginning to be "okay" with his bumbo but would prefer it if you would just sit with him on the floor while he stands or sits. He is becoming more of a hip baby every day, which makes me happy yet sad since it means he is becoming less babyish every day. He is now interested in toys!! Its fun to see him really pound on a musical toy and grab and mouth all kinds of other toys. Jackson is now obsessed with all the baby toys too. We have started to "take turns" and share. Its very hard for Jackson but hopefully in 3 or 4 years we'll be past this. :)

I know that I'm a little biest in saying that Brecken just has the most sweetest little face and most beautiful eyes. His eyes don't seem to be mine or Kevin's so I'm not sure where they are coming from but they just glisten. His eyelashes are so long and he is the most amazing cuddler. Every time Kevin holds him, which is often, he says "Isn't this guy just so sweet?" Its true. We both feel so blessed with such amazing boys. Very different boys at this point, but so incredibly special.

He had his 4 month appointment a few weeks back and he is over 50% in his height. He may be the first O'Hare to reach the top shelf in the kitchen without a step stool. He weighs about 11 pounds 14 oz. He is very content, loves to laugh and smile. He is sleeping from 9:30PM-4-6AM. Naps are almost non-existent, but we are working on it and he screams bloody murder everytime you even think of putting him in his carseat.  I guess not everything can be perfect.

Excuse me Mr. Binks...My thumb is moving in.

Helping mom get ready

The mom shoulder.....It will only be another year before I wear a clean shirt.

JACKSON
Jackson is loving school. His teacher tells him she loves him when she puts him in the car every afternoon and kisses his cheek and forehead. This makes me well up. Its very apparent the kids love her too. If she is not there in the morning when I drop Jack off and another teacher is filling in, the kids are all so sad. She is most definitely made to be a preschool teacher. Like today she tells me when she finally got into the class room, a little girl told her "Ms. H it is about time you got here.." It makes me very happy we did chose this school even though the number of students in the class room made me uneasy at first. We have already had 2 homework assignments. #1 being the letter B...we had to find things and paste them on our letter that we made at home. And #2 being the letter C doing the same thing. It was really fun to do with him and we tape them on the fridge and talk about all the things that start with both. Its rewarding to be giving him the chance to grow his mind. Its also fun to tape on the fridge all the projects he has done at school. He will run and point to them every so often and talk about them.
****Jackson also brought home his very first illness from school. It only took a week. Just a head cold. Passed it to me, Kevin then lastly Brecken. It was real fun to see between the two boys who needed the humidifer more. I never thought I would need two humidifers but I guess that is now on my wish list. Jackson's head cold soon turned into the WORST ear infection in history of Team OHare. He woke up from his nap (which is never a plesant adventure) and he was unconsolably crying, grabbing his right ear, and pounding his head on the couch, floor and chair. He wanted to be held, but not wanted to be held. I was hysterical at this point. Brecken also decided to become hysterical too. The calm part of me thought, it has only got to be an ear infection. The part that was coming out of me was "OMG did he lodge something into his ear??? What is wrong? What if its something much bigger!!??" So I called the doctor and got an appointment for 1 1/2 hours later. Called Kevin and we all went as a family to get there an hour early and have them tell us they are running 40 minutes behind..Needless to say after a very exhausting evening it was only an ear infection but it was a very hysterical moment in my life. Seeing your child in any kind of pain is a horrible experince. I feel like becoming a mother/parent there is nothing worse and I would do anything if I could and can to take it away.

Potty training is still on the go. We kind of fell off the wagon for a bit because life here has just been crazy, and well a day spent with Jackson O'Hare and his stubbornness I'm sure you would agree. I have a few new ideas and I am ready to do this. We just need a weekend that is clear and ready for us.

Speech Therapy. We are there Monday and Friday mornings for 30 minutes. She takes him back all by himself (my big boy) and me and Breck sit out in the waiting room. I sat with him for the first two weeks and he does so well. She has set up 4 numbered bins and in each bin is a different activity. He loves this set up and he loves her too. After they are done she gives me "homework" for the week and tips on what to help with and how to.  She said he is doing AMAZING and she is very impressed. Makes me wonder if he really needed it in the first place. We went there a while back and she came out with another child because they needed to use the restroom and Jack thought she was coming to get him so he was UPSET when she left without him. He screamed for the next 10 minutes. Two other ladies in the waiting room both said to me "ohhh that's so cute that he loves her so much"...yeah I wanted to shoot myself. Brecken in one arm and trying to contain Jackson in the other. Yeah real freaking cute. But....I wonder if its this, school, or him just getting older that is helping him. He is talking much more now or I should say talking with words since before it sounded like he was Chinese. He is saying bizarre things like bicycles, toothpaste, pumpkin, and it is very clear like you or I would say them  but I have yet to hear him say cat, dog or cup....I guess that is the stubbornness in him. He is so smart and I hate comparing his speech to everyone else's child but I guess in the long run he will talk and with his babble it will be nonstop so I should probably  just enjoy this.

Mr. Independent-So he has now learned how to open all doors, use the water dispenser on the fridge, get food out of the fridge and pantry and pull up chairs to get stuff off the counter and is refusing to eat off of any plate that is made for children. It looks like he doesn't need my help anymore. So we are now in phase two of child proofing and it does NOT make Mr. Independent very happy.

On another note, Jackson has decided to stop eating every piece of paper and cardboard in the house so I have taken the books and puzzels out from hiding. They are disgusting since they look like a pack of wild dogs mistaked them as a tasty treat but at least we can still manage to read them. I was beginning to wonder if we were going to be on the show "Obsessed".

hummm...something is just not right with this picture??

Don't mess with me

This past weekend, someone mistaked Jack as being a girl....I wonder why??

Once a Year....

We love to have visitors. We love to entertain. This may explain why we have built a bar upstairs in the "Family Cave". Every year the Hunt family comes down from OH and stays the night with us before traveling along down to the beach. Every year we sit, laugh and catch up on our new adventures, talk about our kids and maybe play a drinking game or two. This year was no exception.

They arrived a little after 5 PM with a big box fan in hand and ready to start their vacation.  The girls were a year older and more beautiful then ever. They always keep us laughing with their stories and how "grown up" they can  be. They only had one request, to get some cupcakes from a local cupcake bakery here.  But before we could manage to fill that request we cracked beers open and started the reminiscing. As the year prior, we played Truth or Dare with Maddie again. Nate is always keeping me laughing because well he is just funny and you can't help but like the guy. One of the "Truth" questions Maddie asked her dad was "Have you ever kissed another guy".......We'll let the answer to that go unknown. So the game ended with Nate running around our cul-de-sac with his shirt off screaming. Our neighbors must really wonder about us sometimes. No surprise to any of you who read my blog regularly is that I love to shot gun a beer. Something about it reminds me of being 17 with my girlfriends. So true to form I make Jill shot gun a beer with me as I do every year. She needed a little bit of a notice to get geared up for the event so like I do with Jackson I set the "carrot" timer and when it went off, we were off....and for once in my life I won!! Sorry Jill. :)

All in all its such a fun night when they come. Kevin and Nate stay up until all hours of the night...or early morning (5AM),  Jill and I have good conversations and play Yahtzee, Maddie makes us laugh with her cruise director love song tribute and Shelby makes us want to be 13 again thinking that nerd glasses and fake mustaches on your finger is whats cool... It never seems quite right that we only see each other a few times a year.

Shelby and Brecken

Madison and Brecki

Jackson LOVED Maddie. He followed her around the ENTIRE time they were here. He was so sad to see her go.

Little "inexpensive" gifts...

It seems as if the littlest gifts make the biggest smiles, especially when you are 2. Once each spring and fall our neighborhood has a yard sale. I love this and I look forward to it the second it gets posted. I have gotten almost all of Jackson's and now Brecken's big toys from them. We have purchased a rocking fish ($5), a kitchen ($25), tool set bench ($15), table and chairs ($20),  a basketball hoop ....oh wait that one I actually dumpster dove for :) but you get the point.

Saturday morning came and it was still dark out and for us a bit chilly. I made coffee, brushed my teeth and put on my puffy vest and waited for L to arrive. The first stop I picked up a shopping cart. I have been wanting one FOREVER for Jack. $2. We drove around for a bit stopping at one here and there when someone gave us the scoop about 2 other neighborhood yard sales. We were so excited! So it was fun going to a different neighborhood and I picked up a bigger than a gallon Ziploc bag of figurines. Shrek, Woody, Buzz, The Incredibles, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles....ect and some yes McDonald happy meal toys were also included. But this bag of bliss brought MANY MANY hours of happiness to my son. It was his most favorite of all the toys I brought home. And still 3 weeks later he is still in love.

It was like Christmas morning after this yard sale. Kevin and I had smiles from ear to ear watching Jackson  be so happy. I live through Jack and his happiness and now Brecken too. Christmas this year is going to be very memorable and I look forward to feeling like a child again through my own children.